title: Rethinking vaccine policy making in an era of vaccine hesitancy: time to rebuild, not remodel?
abstract: Recently in this journal, David Ropeik argued for imposing additional burdens upon individuals who refused vaccines for themselves or for their children. Specifically, Ropeik advocated for policies that would decrease the ease of claiming vaccine exemptions and restricting unvaccinated children participation in social activities. We argue that, in order to derive the optimal societal benefit from modern vaccinology in an era of vaccine hesitancy, we need to consider doing more than conventional remodeling of current policies. We may need to fundamentally redesign and rebuild.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics; University of Washington School of Medicine; Seattle, WA USA; Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics and Center for Clinical and Translational Research; Seattle Children's Research Institute; Seattle, WA USA.
authors.forename: Douglas J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Opel
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics; University of Washington School of Medicine; Seattle, WA USA; Department of Epidemiology; University of Washington School of Public Health; Seattle, WA USA.
authors.forename: Edgar K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Marcuse
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012308:Risk Management / Q000379:methods*; D016312:Treatment Refusal; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines
keywords: communication; immunizations; pediatrics; policy; preventive care